(March 15, 2017) -- When the R&A released its most recent World Amateur Golf Rankings there was a new name atop the list and it belonged to Australian Curtis Luck.

Luck, in Orlando this week to play in the Arnold Palmer Invitational told Golf Australia of the news, "[It] felt great. Since I started playing really seriously when I was 14 or 15, it’s been my goal from there. So for five years I’ve been trying to reach that No. 1 spot.

Currently ranked 6th in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com Rankings, Luck picked up points in six 2016 events with of course the wins at the U.S. Amateur and Asia-Pacific Amateur highlighting his season. Luck also received points at the World Amateur Team (2nd), South Australia Amateur Classic (3rd), Riversdale Cup (T4), Australian Master of the Amateurs (T17) and Australian Men's Amateur (Final 64).

“I haven’t been checking [the rankings] lately so didn’t know it was getting so close, so to wake up this morning and see it had ticked over was pretty cool.

“It was pretty exciting for me and it was one goal for 2017 checked off the list," Luck said. "So I can now move on to the next one which is obviously playing and doing well at the Masters, so we’ll see how it goes.” Luck continued, "I haven’t been checking (the rankings) lately so didn’t know it was getting so close, so to wake up this morning and see it had ticked over was pretty cool."

And when Luck says "ticked over" he means it literally. Luck currently holds the top-spot with a tally of 1362.5301 while former No. 1 Stanford senior Maverick McNealy has a 1360.0141 point total, a difference of 2.516 points.

McNealy became No. 1 when Jon Rahm turned professional after the 2016 U.S. Open and held on to the position for a better part of eight months.

Currently, Luck has made his way stateside where he is going through his final preparations for his appearance at the quickly approaching Masters.

“It’s great. I wouldn’t classify [being No. 1] as a confidence boost, it’s more just gratifying to be in that position and makes me more excited to [Augusta National] and compete as the No. 1 amateur in the world.”